Nobody was charged after the search. The FBI is believed to have been acting on information from interviews and data gleaned from Ryan Cleary, who lives in Essex and has been charged with five offences under the Computer Misuse Act. LulzSec denied that Cleary had any involvement with the group in a tweet after his arrest, and suggested he had only hosted a chatroom for them.

The website Threatpost reports that the Ohio teenager was known within LulzSec as "m_nerva", who leaked text logs of discussions between the group after they had hacked into the website of an FBI affiliate at the beginning of June.

In those discussions, the apparent leader, called "Sabu", warned them not to discuss what they were doing with anyone.

LulzSec also released alleged details of the identity of m_nerva and another member; one of the names was of a person who lived in Hamilton, Ohio. The other allegedly lived in Halethorpe, Maryland.

Last week FBI agents searched the house of a woman in Iowa and questioned her about links with the group. LulzSec said in a statement that it had six members, though it never stated their gender. But The Guardian understands that one key player was a female known in the group as "kayla" who carried out a number of website attacks.